[88 BPM] | [Progressive Metal Grunge] | [D minor] [Mood: Frustrated] [Energy: Building] [Intro | detuned riff in 7 alone | clean guitar answering phrase ends | drums entering behind the beat | washy open hi-hats] [Verse 1 | half-swallowed tenor behind the beat | dense internal rhyme, precise consonants | riff in 7 | bass carrying underneath] Dry eyes don't match my heavy heart, My lies won't catch up to my unsteady start. I've tried before but the switch won't flip, I'm fried therefore I loose my itching grip All these things cease to matter, I always cling to peace that can be shattered. [Pre-Chorus | riff tightening | clean guitar dropping out | drums building | full-band silence on the last word] I've shed tears before, It was always so easy, But in the face of endless war, I find myself so queasy. [Chorus | full weight | strained sustained shout | drums locked to riff accents | Energy: High] I have every reason to cry, And every rhyme I try, Is another locked door, I forget what tears are for, All this pressure building, All the empathy inside, And all the pain I'm wielding [Instrumental | riff in 7 repeating | clean guitar answering further behind each pass | bass climbing | drums thickening | no solo, no variation | Energy: Building] [Verse 2 | riff returning | vocal half-swallowed and flat | bass forward | drums washy] Cold feeds scroll past my open eyes, Old needs hold fast, I don't apologize. I read the names and I file them all away, I bleed the same but I've nothing left to pay. Every face I see keeps living, Every trace of me keeps giving. [Pre-Chorus | riff tightening | drums building | full-band silence] I've shed tears before, It was always so easy, But in the face of endless war, I find myself so queasy. [Chorus | full weight | strained shout | Energy: High] I have every reason to cry, And every rhyme I try, Is another locked door, I forget what tears are for, All this pressure building, All the empathy inside, And all the pain I'm wielding [Bridge | half-time | riff dropping to a single palm-muted note | drums sparse | vocal close and almost spoken] There was a version of me that came apart on schedule. Flat on my bed every night, right on time. Praying to a dark and empty room To make the tears stop [Verse 3 | riff returning slowly | vocal exposed but level | clean guitar silent | bass and drums only under the last lines] I thought the flood was how much I could feel, I forgot the blood came from a wound that wouldn't heal. Those tears weren't the measure of the care, Those years weren't a treasure, they were mostly just despair. The caring didn't leave me when the crying stopped, It's bearing all the weight of every tear I never dropped. [Pre-Chorus | maximum tension | full band | drums heaviest | no silence, riff carrying straight through] I've shed tears before, And I might not again, But in the face of endless war, I've found another vein. [Breakdown | everything drops away | sustained low pad only | vocal closest and quietest | no drums | Energy: Low] I cannot cry, But I can speak, My words may not be enough, But I must try... [Final Chorus | largest arrangement | doubled vocal | full band | Energy: High] I have every reason to cry, And every rhyme I try, Is another open door, This is what the tears were for, All this pressure leaving, All the empathy inside, Is the only way I'm grieving [Outro | riff resolving | clean guitar returning | drums stopping first | long sustained final chord] Is the only way I'm grieving.
